We Are Soldiers
by Guardian Zenithar
Summary: Right after Halo 2, this is the story of Echo Squad from the 8th ODST BN, Delta Company. An evac mission by a ship's best ODST's leads to missions all over space. My first fanfic, so any comments are welcome. Crossover with another cool game. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first fanfic, so constructive criticism is appreciated, as are compliments. I'm not sure if I'm a good writer, but I at least tried to get out all the spelling and grammar errors. I have a lot of chapters already typed, but I'm just now posting it on Enjoy!

Chapter 1 – 0500 Hours

It was another morning on the Concrescence. At least, on Earth it would be morning. Out in space, the only way to tell time was with a clock. As usual, I was the first one awake in my ODST squad by an hour. Once out of bed, I made my way to the bathroom to check the mirror. I was about six feet and four inches tall with light brown skin, jade eyes, and very short black hair. Unlike most Helljumpers, I had almost no tattoos on my body. The one I did have, located on my right arm, was a shield with two swords and an Elite skull stacked over it. Above it read WE GO and below it read FEET FIRST. All I had on was what I went to sleep in: my pajama pants, my dogtags and my trusty combat knife, which has claimed the lives of several Covenant that have been stupid enough to cross the path of me, First Lieutenant John Henson. I decided to make my way to the mess hall for some breakfast, but I was stopped by an announcement.

"Lieutenant Henson, please come to the Bridge immediately."

"Damn," I muttered to myself as I headed for the bridge, "I was hungry, too." When I finally got to the Bridge, a sergeant told me to report to Lieutenant Colonel Hegwood. The Colonel didn't look too happy to see me out of uniform.

"Henson, you've been up for ten minutes and you couldn't put a shirt on?" he said.

"I was on my way to the mess hall, sir," I replied.

"Fair enough. As you know, Commander Keyes brought a detachment of Marines to this sector to recover an Index, I believe, to prevent the Covenant from activating this Halo. She and Sergeant Major A.J. Johnson are currently holed up in the control room with a large group of Covenant reinforcements en route. Your squad will be sent in to locate Keyes and Johnson. Once you have them, we will send in a force to engage the Covenant and evac your team. If they aren't alive, you are to secure their transponders, find a suitable extraction zone and call for an evac. Are there any questions?"

"Yes. Do you realize that my squad is the smallest one on the Concrescence, sir?"

"Your squad also consists of the best-trained Marines, which is why you're going in first. Are there any more questions?"

"Yes. Do you also realize that this mission is suicide should the Covenant fleet arrive sooner than expected?"

"That's a risk we're willing to take."

"Easy for you to say, since you're not going on the mission," I said under my breath. Luckily, Colonel didn't hear it.

"Your squad will be sent out at 0800, so you have two and a half hours to get ready. Good luck." I saluted the Colonel and walked back to my squad's bunks. Before that, I stopped by the mess hall and got my breakfast to go. Food wasn't allowed to leave the mess hall, but I was getting sent to my death, so I didn't care about another demotion.

Once I arrived, I found that everyone but First Sergeant Davis was asleep. I opened up my meal and began to wolf it down. Davis noticed this and began to put her equipment on. "Mission?" she asked.

"Yeah." I stared at her for a second as she got out of bed. She was about five foot ten with white skin and light brown hair that went a little lower than her shoulders. She stood up in a black sports bra and pink pajama pants, and then looked at me with her blue eyes. "Suicide mission?"

"When aren't they?" She smiled and began putting her BDU's on. At 0600, the rest of the squad was still asleep, so I drew my M6D pistol that escaped the stupid recall. I loaded a dummy round and shot the ceiling. Startled, Cummins and Posada awoke, but Nicholson remained asleep. I had a good laugh after seeing their faces. I then walked over to Nicholson, who was on a top bunk. He had dirty blonde hair that was slightly curly, and we often joked that his head was oversized for his six foot body.

"Nicholson!" I yelled. "Get your lazy ass out of bed!" He awoke, cranky. I then walked back to my cot and began sorting my gear when I heard some snoring. I slowly turned around and saw that Nicholson had fallen back to sleep. Being the nice guy that I am, I walked over and pushed him off his bunk onto the ground. There was a moan of pain. "You awake yet, Nicholson? Good. Everyone, listen up. We have a mission, and we leave at 0800 hours. You all have two hours to get your equipment, eat breakfast, and get in your jumper pod. This is expected to be a short mission, so take mostly ammo. I'll brief you on the way down." We then all made our way to the armory.

We all decided to take our usual load outs. I grabbed a belt of pistol ammo and a holster. First Sergeant Davis got her trusty S2 AM Sniper Rifle. Master Sergeant Brad Cummins, who was five foot nine and had short blonde hair and blue eyes, grabbed his M90 shotgun. Staff Sergeant Brenda Posada, six foot two with hazel eyes and red-dyed hair, reached for two M7 sub-machine guns. Finally, Gunnery Sergeant Arnold Nicholson lumbered in with two painkillers and took the standard issue BR55 rifle. Everyone got the usual four M9 grenades, but I grabbed six.

"Sir, your load out seems a little underpowered. Only a magnum?" Cummins asked.

"Look again, dipshit. This is an M6D, still has the scope," I replied. "Ten extra mags, too. Ok, people. Ten minutes 'til the pods leave. Move out."

We slowly made our way to the pods with me up front. I walked slowly, as if I was walking to an execution chamber, which was a high possibility. We all quietly loaded our gear into our pods and climbed in.

"Goodbye, Concrescence," I whispered as I closed my pod's door. "We may never see each other again." I began fastening my restraints when I heard Posada's voice:

"So, sir, about our mission..."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – 0807 Hours

"Yeah, sounds easy enough," Nicholson said. "What's the catch?"

"Oh, it's no biggie," I radioed. "It's just that if Intel's wrong, we could be turned into mincemeat in seconds by the approaching Covenant fleet. I asked Colonel about that, but he said it was 'a risk we're willing to take.'"

"Easy for him to say. He's not going on the mission," Davis said.

"Exactly what I said, but he didn't hear me." I checked my stopwatch. "Twenty seconds and counting. Lock and load, people." Despite all of my years as a Helljumper, my heart started to race. Hopefully, I thought to myself, they won't look up, or even be here. There was a rough jolt as the pod's landing systems kicked in. Ten seconds and we're on the ground. I was worried, but that was something no ODST could escape. For us, there was always something to worry about.

"In case we don't make it, I love you guys," Nicholson said. "Except for you, sir. I hate you for waking me up like-" BAM! We had hit the ground, and the pods shot open. Just as I was about to get out, I noticed a furry limb sticking out from under my pod, with red sand surrounding my pod.

"Oh, hey, a Brute Shot. And a freshly dead Brute under… your… pod… Damn, they're here. Run for cover!" Cummins shouted. I started to sprint, but then I turned around and slid as I grabbed the Brute Shot. Just then a Carbine trail raced past my left eye. I blind-fired a grenade and raced to catch up with my squad. I saw a Carbine fly over my head. Thank God, I thought, I hit him. We ducked into a building that was carved into the wall of rock, narrowly dodging the grenade volleys that followed us.

"Is anyone hurt or missing?" I asked. Everyone was here and in good condition. I saw an Elite out of the corner of my eye and raised my Brute Shot to fire, but then I eased off the trigger at the sound of a human voice.

"Don't shoot, he's on our side." Following the Elite was Sergeant Major Johnson. "The Covenant betrayed the Elites, Hunters, and Grunts, so they're helping us now."

"Whatever. Is Commander Keyes ok?" I asked, lowering my weapon. Explosions flooded the entrance, catching us all off-guard. "Oh yeah, we brought some company with us. In the mood to fight?"

"Hell yeah, sir. Arbiter, round up your Elites. We'll need their help. Let's kick some furry ass!" I fired a grenade at a Brute, but he ducked behind a rock. He began to laugh, I think, but when he looked over the rock another grenade went flying and hit its mark.

"If you think that was cool, sir, watch this," Davis shouted. A Brute began to strafe and began to fire a shot, but before the grenade left the barrel, a sniper round entered and detonated all four grenades, leaving a very bloody mess. I looked over to see Posada, the newest member of the squad, tilting her head to the side for a few seconds. Unfortunately, while I was watching Posada, a Carbine shot caught my right shoulder.

"Ah, I'm hit!" I yelled, and began to crawl backwards to safety while I felt the intense pain along with the smell of smoldering skin.. Sergeant Johnson, who was closest to me, immediately took my med kit and sprayed some BioFoam into the wound.

"Come on, sir. Can't have anyone dying but the Covenant," he said as he extended his hand.

"Good point." I grabbed his hand and got up, ready to fight again. I drew my pistol and aimed for a Brute's head, firing a shot. The round entered through his eye socket, and it made a 'ding' as it attempted to escape through the back of his skull. The last Brute entered what was deemed "Quarterback Mode" and ran around on all fours with reckless abandon, charging straight at Nicholson. I rushed into the Brute's path, drew my knife, and dove through its path, slicing the Brute's throat as I flew. The Brute and I hit the ground at the same time, but the difference was that I was alive. Just then Commander Keyes walked out, followed by a floating metal ball. "Commander, you just missed the party. We had so much fun." I quickly stood up and cleaned my knife off on my sleeve.

"Sorry, Lieutenant," Keyes replied. "I was talking to 2401 Penitent Tangent when we heard the fighting." She saw the confused look on my face. "This floating metal ball. Johnson and the Arbiter told me to stay and keep talking. Where's everyone else?" she inquired as I sheathed my knife.

"Everyone else, ma'am?"

"Are you telling me that the UNSC sent only five Helljumpers to rescue me?"

"I guess so, because it's only the five of us, the Elites, and the remains of a Brute patrol. Wait a minute, where the hell's our backup? Cummins, call for evac," I commanded.

"Yes, sir. This is Echo Squad. We have secured the packages and are requesting immediate evac, over," he radioed.

"This is Colonel Hegwood. We've detected unknown activity that has gotten the attention of the Covenant fleet. It seems to be a large group of Flood. You'll need to get away and find a suitable extraction zone. Over," Colonel replied.

"Sir, how far away from our location is the fighting?" Cummins asked. He was answered by a crashing Banshee that had a Combat form on it. Immediately an Elite charged and slashed it into pieces with an Energy Sword.

"This area is about to be overrun. We must move now," the Elite said.

"Good idea. Marines, secure all weaponry and move out," I ordered, followed by several Hoo-ah's.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – 0814 Hours

"Commander, I understand that you came with several Marines, but remember that I have tactical command of this mission, and that includes you, ma'am," I stated. "Arbiter, retain command of your Elites, because you know them better than I do."

"Understood. May I make a request?" the Arbiter replied. "I wish for my Elites to be armed with the Brute Shots, because we are more used to them than your men are."

"Do any Marines have a problem with that?" I asked.

"Not at all, sir. I prefer my Sniper Rifle over a grenade launcher, anyways," Davis replied.

"Sure, they can have it. I still have plenty of rounds for my rifle," Nicholson said.

"I wouldn't hit anything with it, so I don't mind at all," Posada answered.

"And Cummins didn't pick one up, so that makes three with nine grenades each. Here you go, Arbiter." The Marines handed the Brute Shots to the Elites, along with the grenades. An Elite whispered something into the Arbiter's ear, or where I think his ear was.

"The Brutes have stockpiled some of your weapons in a nearby cave. I suggest that we go and get them," the Arbiter said. The explosions in the background suggested that the battle was not going in the Covenant's favor. "We should move now, or we risk being defeated."

"Good idea. Arbiter, lead the way to the weapons cache. Let's move out." The Elites went up front, Sergeant Johnson and Commander Keyes in the middle, and we ODST's were in the back. As we were jogging I remembered that the Sniper's rounds normally over penetrated the Flood. "Amanda, do you need a new weapon? That rifle won't do much to the Flood."

"Don't worry about it, sir. I picked up that Carbine that a Brute had, so I should be good," Davis responded. "I just hope those weapons are still there."

"I call dibs on a rocket launcher, if there's one there," Nicholson shouted.

"The hell you do! It's mine," I answered.

"Fine. I call a shotgun if there's one, then." Just then three Banshees flew overhead, apparently not seeing us. "Take cover!" Everyone scrambled to the foliage nearby. I heard the sound of a scope zooming in, so I looked over at Davis.

"Hold your fire. We're not sure if it's a friendly or hostile," I whispered. We waited there until the sound of the Banshee engines faded away. "All clear, let's go!" Once at the cave we were greeted by a group of several Elites, Grunts, and four Hunters. A white-armored Elite ran up to us.

"Arbiter! Good thing you're all right," the Elite said.

"Good to see you, too. Lieutenant, this is the Special Operations Commander for the Elites. He is leading the resistance on Halo against the Covenant," the Arbiter stated.

"Nice to meet you," I commented. "What kind of weapons you got in there?"

"In this cave we found many of each of your weapons, as well as a Rocket Launcher and ammunition for all of them. You are free to choose whatever you wish, since you have aided the Arbiter and we have no use for them," he replied.

"Ok, Marines, you heard the man. Take your pick, but you better leave me a Rocket Launcher." My squad rushed in, pushing each other over trying to beat each other to the cave. I activated my long-range radio. "This is Echo Squad reporting in. We have located a group of rebels and are requesting evac. Over."

"This is Colonel Hegwood. We can send an evac for your squad, but the pilots won't pick the rebels up. Over," Colonel replied. Sergeant Johnson turned his radio on.

"The hell they won't! If the rebels aren't extracted, then Keyes and I aren't leaving, and neither is the Lieutenant. Isn't that right, Henson?" Johnson asked.

"Damn straight! They're as much part of the UNSC as I am now, so I sure as hell ain't leaving without them… sir."

"Marine, what the hell makes you think you can bargain with me? I'm ordering your squad, and only your squad, to get on those birds when they get there. Is that understood?" Colonel replied angrily. I hesitated for a moment. "Well?"

"No, sir, I don't understand why I have to leave my allies to die."

"Because they are not part of the mission! You, your squad, Johnson and Keyes are the only people the UNSC cares about! Unless you agree that only humans will get on those birds, you will receive no evac. Is that understood?" I looked up and saw everyone staring directly at me. It was then that I had to make a very important decision, one that would determine the fates of at least sixty friendlies. No one said a thing, which meant that this was entirely my decision. Of course, it really wasn't a decision at all.

"Yes, sir, that is crystal clear." Johnson was about to yell at me, but Miranda motioned for him to remain quiet. "It's settled, then, sir. We'll find our own ride off of Halo."


	4. Chapter 4

BoredLint: Yeah, Arbiter's cool, and he hangs around for a while. Henson and Davis are the two main characters in the story.

Yes, I do have cliffhangers often, but don't they make you stick around and want to read on? Hahaha, I know, I'm evil. Read and review, please.

Chapter 4 -0822 Hours

Everyone was shocked after I said that. My squad because I talked to Colonel like that and the rebels because they thought I'd leave them. After having a few moments for it to sink in, the rebels started cheering while my squad, except Davis, stood there open-mouthed.

"Permission to speak freely, sir," Cummins requested.

"You guys always have that when I'm in command," I replied.

"What the hell is your damn problem? Your dumb ass just got us stuck here on Halo with the Flood and Covenant! Are you insane, sir?"

"My psychiatrist tells me that, but I tend to ignore him. I guess he was right." I walked to the Arbiter and Spec-Ops guy, as I now call him. "All we need now is a few Phantoms. Any idea where we can find some?"

"I suggest we go to the nearby battlefield. If we can eliminate the Flood before they learn how to control those Phantoms, I'm sure we can get out of here," Arbiter responded. "We must move quickly, because the Flood's numbers do not stay low for long."

"I like it. Marines, prepare for battle against Flood. Spec-Ops guy, have your troops gather any weapons they want from the cave. My men have enough."

"Lieutenant, you have given my troops hope that they will survive. I believe now they have set aside all their differences with you and will follow you even to their deaths, which is something not even my Elites could gain. I am honored to follow you," General said.

"Thank you, I'm glad to hear that. Listen up, Marines." I walked over to them. "I don't care how many Covenant you've killed or how many have killed your friends. These guys are our allies now, and you will treat them as such. You will watch their backs, because they will watch yours. Look at it this way: we're all one big happy squad now."

"Sir, the Elites found some turrets in the back of the cave. Do we leave them here?" Johnson asked.

"Take me to them," I replied. When I got to them, I noticed that they were fold-ups. Some were damaged, but most were in working condition. "Get some people to take the ammo from the damaged ones and put it in the good ones. We'll take them with us." I then spotted one that had its tripod knocked off, but looked like it still worked. I picked it up, and fired a few rounds. "Recoil's not too bad for a .30-caliber. Load this one up, too." I walked back outside to my ODST's. "Marines, anyone in the mood to take a turret?" Brenda's hand shot up, so I chuckled. "If you think you can hit anything, it's yours. Anyone else? No? Ok, I guess the Grunts will want to try one out." I went over to the Grunts and offered them the turrets. They accepted them in a heartbeat. About five minutes later Keyes walked up to me.

"John, is this a smart move?" she asked.

"What are you talking about, Miranda?"

"Attacking the Flood. Is that really the best course of action? I mean, it's a good plan, but several things can go wrong. For example, the Flood could be back at full strength, they could have control of…"

"Yeah, I know how much can go wrong, thank you. But we really don't have much of a choice if we want to get off of Halo quickly. You're not scared, are you?"

"Hell no, sir," she defended quickly. "It's just that I'm worried that we'll lose too many people and all chances of leaving this ring."

"From what I hear, it was only you and Johnson who were left when you got to the Index, and yet you still managed to escape."

"Actually, we were captured by Tartarus and his Brutes, sir."

"Regardless, you still completed your objective of retrieving the Index. It's my objective to get on that Phantom and rendezvous with the Concrescence in orbit with you and Johnson on board. We have never failed and don't plan to, so don't worry."

"You mean your objective is for us to return to the Concrescence alive? I feel much better now." I wanted to tell her that all we needed was her and Johnson's transponders, but I decided against it. I heard some running and turned around to meet Johnson.

"Sorry to interrupt, but everyone's ready to go, sir," he stated. "Your 'rifle' is with the rest of your equipment, too."

"Good work, Sergeant, thank you. Listen up, everyone," I yelled. "We move out in three minutes, so make your final preparations now. After those three minutes, we're going to go kick some Flood ass!" Several different battle cries rang out as I went to retrieve my custom-made .30-caliber light machine gun.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – 0834 hours

It was late afternoon, and the assault was to commence in moments. As the ready signal, I was to toss a grenade into a group of Flood, which would tell the turrets, designated Alpha Team, to commence firing. I sat there in our trench, surrounded by those who had Battle Rifles and Carbines, all of whom were designated Charlie Team.

"Here goes nothing," I said to myself as I pulled the pin. It made a clearly audible chink which alerted the nearest Combat Form. I hurled the grenade at it and readied my rifle. Luckily, the frag found its mark, buying me a few seconds. "Go, go, go!" I shouted into my radio, which triggered a hail of turret fire that fell onto the Flood. While they were shooting at the turret emplacements, several invisible Elites, who were designated Bravo Team, snuck in and began to thin the Flood's numbers with rockets and slashing.

"Bravo Team is in! Charlie Team, attack!" I ordered as I rose from my trench and charged. Battle Rifles and Carbines found their marks, disabling many Flood. So far, the battle was leaning greatly in our favor. Picking the Flood off from a distance had greatly reduced their numbers, so when it turned into close combat, Charlie Team moved in with ease. As I was running I noticed a Combat Form run at me in the corner of my eye. Almost immediately after, a burst of BR55 shots flew in front of me and connected with its weak spot, rendering it useless.

"This thing's good, but I still want to use my Sniper on them," Davis chimed over the radio.

"You're good with both of them, and that's all that matters," I commended. A Carrier Form was coming at me, so I just fired at it until it blew up. Once the Infection forms came out, I wasted them as well. I checked my six and saw a Combat Form charge for a group of Grunts. I drew my Pistol and fired once, plugging a .50 caliber round into its chest. It began twitching and rolled into a small ditch. I fired again, ending its miserable existence.

After a few moments, the firing slowed to a halt until the very last of the Flood were dead. Upon realizing this, everyone started shouting for joy. Johnson somehow found me despite the chaos of the celebration.

"That was one hell of a battle, wasn't it, sir?" he asked.

"Damn straight. We owned those sons of bitches," I replied. I turned around to retrieve my rifle when I spotted an Infection form run for the dead Flood in the ditch. "Watch this, Johnson." I followed it to the ditch where it had entered the Combat Form, which began twitching. I drew a grenade, pulled the pin, shoved it into the Flood's mouth, and walked away. I was about ten feet away from the ditch when I heard a loud bang. "I've wanted to do that to a Flood since I first heard you talk about them. Arbiter, how's the Phantom?"

"Severely damaged, but I believe we can jury-rig it to get us to your ship in orbit," Arbiter replied.

"Get to it. Brenda, give me a casualty count."

"Uhh, looks like about… a hundred and fifty Flood dead, sir, but I don't see why that matters," Posada replied.

"It doesn't, Posada. I meant how many friendly casualties were there."

"Oh, ok. Let me go check, and I'll be back in a few minutes."

"You do that. Listen up! I want those turrets down here and set up in defensive positions. Everyone needs to reload or recharge their weapons. Destroy the Flood bodies and administer medical care to our wounded. If you don't have a job, you're collecting weapons or on the lookout for approaching hostiles. Posada, do you have a casualty count now?"

"Yes, sir. We have seven with minor injuries and twelve who are out of action but in stable condition. No men down."

"None dead? Excellent work, people. Miranda, contact the Colonel and notify him of our status. Arnold, get an estimate of how much weaponry we acquired and report back to me as soon as possible." I removed my helmet and took a drink from my canteen. "Ah, that tastes so good after a firefight. Want some, Sergeant?"

"Don't mind if I do," Johnson replied. "Yeah, that sure does hit the spot. Here comes Keyes." I turned around to see Miranda hand me the radio.

"Good afternoon, Colonel. Lovely day for a return home, don't you think?" I said.

"Excellent work. From what I've heard, you have successfully captured a Covenant vessel from the Flood, and with no casualties. I must say, I'm impressed. The Concrescence will be waiting for your arrival, and I will be the first to welcome you…" Another voice interrupted him.

"Colonel, we have incoming Covenant cruisers. We can't tell an exact number or if they're controlled by the rebels or not," the voice said.

"What?!? Looks like we have no choice. We're going to have to get close to Halo. Lieutenant, you need to repair that Phantom as soon as possible, because we may have a lot of trouble on our hands if those cruisers aren't full of friendlies. Over and out." Fuck me sideways, I thought.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Yeah, sorry it's been so long, but I've been kinda forgetful when I went to friend's houses. Anyways, you guys get two chapters this time as a bonus. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

Ok, just don't panic, I thought to myself. If everyone else sees you panic, they'll start worrying and they'll be less effective. You have to keep your cool. Besides, it may be friendlies on the way. But if it's not, the mission will be in serious jeopardy. I decided to put my helmet back on, since it wouldn't betray my thoughts.

"Sir, I say that we focus on repairing the Phantom and let Colonel worry about those cruisers," Johnson suggested. Everyone else around us seemed to agree.

"I couldn't have said it better myself. Arbiter, get your men working on that Phantom. Everyone else, remain on alert for more Flood. We don't want to be caught off-guard."

"Henson, can I ask you a question?" Miranda asked. I looked over at her and said,

"Didn't really give me much choice there, did you?" She gave me a confused look. "Forget it. Yes, ask away."

"What happens if…" I waved my hand to keep her from finishing, because I didn't want to imagine what the answer would be.

"No, you can't ask a 'what if' question. I hate our situation enough without thinking of the bad, okay?"

"Never mind, then." I don't like this at all, I thought as I walked to the Phantom project. Too many things are out of my hands.

"Everyone, listen up! If you're not directly helping with the repairs of the Phantom, you either need to be on the lookout for Flood, searching for supplies, or fortifying the area. I'll leave you to decide which one you're going to do, but there needs to be quite a few watching for Flood. If there are not enough volunteers, there will be victims. As you were." Davis walked up to me, holding the radio.

"Sir, it's the Colonel. He wants to speak to you." I took the radio and heard Colonel's voice.

"Lieutenant, I have some good news for you. Those two cruisers were controlled by rebels and I have explained our situation to them. They want the Arbiter back, so they're sending a few Phantoms to pick you and your whole team up. You'll be going to their ship, seeing as how we've already docked with them."

"Thanks for telling me, sir. What's their ETA?"

"They told me about twenty minutes, so you should have time to pack up."

"Tell them we'll be ready for them. Over and out." I then heard Cummins say something to Davis, so I turned around.

"Oh, shit. You mean they're coming now? Tell the crew working on the Phantom, I'll tell the Lieutenant," Davis replied. She turned around to find me right there.

"You'll tell the Lieutenant what, Davis?" I asked.

"Sir, there's a big ass group of Flood heading our way. You've got to tell everyone to get ready."

"No need to tell everyone. Get the Hunters and four turrets. That should hold them off. Since we're on the defensive now, we have the advantage."

"Yes, sir. Hunters! Marines! Grab the turrets and come with me! You coming, sir?"

"Hell yeah! You think I'd miss a chance to kill something? Johnson, Keyes, you're free to join in whenever you want." I sprinted off, getting back into the zone as I ran. Once I got to our defensive position, I heard the high-pitched wail of the Hunters' fuel rod cannons as they unleashed a deadly hail of plasma beams on the Flood. I drew my pistol in my right hand and my knife in my left hand. Bring it on, I thought to myself as they closed in.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Once the Hunters stopped firing I blindly rushed to meet my foes. My first victim was a marine Combat Form. I stabbed it in the face to distract it and fired into its chest. Next was an Elite Combat Form, which retained its shield. It had an energy sword as well.

"This is gonna be fun," I said to myself. A second before it would have struck a Sniper shot disabled the shield.

"Useless against the Flood, huh?" I put a round in its chest while it was stunned.

"Except when it's in your hands, Davis." I then holstered my weapons and readied the Energy Sword. It's a bad day to be a Flood, I thought to myself. Several Flood were gunned down before they could get to me, but I still got my fair share of kills. I then heard some talking interrupted by a Battle Rifle on the radio.

"Sem…" a burst rang out, taking down a Combat Form, "per…" another burst, another Flood, "fi…" a third burst claimed its target, "bitches!" A fourth burst crippled yet another Flood. I looked and my HUD told me that it was Nicholson who was doing that.

"Arnold, can you just shut up and kill the damn things? I mean you're not the only one that hears what you're saying," I scolded.

"Sorry about that, sir. It's just that I've been recording our whole mission and this adds to the intensity," Nicholson replied as he continued firing.

"Nicholson, I hope you realize that you're the biggest damn idiot that I've ever met." I cut a nearby Combat Form in half. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard a Marine do." I then lunged at another, butchering it to pieces. This is fun, I thought. Now I see why so many Elites have these. A nearby explosion caught me off-guard, but was too far away to injure me.

"Sorry, sir. I saw the grenade on its waist and I couldn't resist," Davis apologized. "I didn't think it was close enough to hurt you."

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine." I just continued hacking at Flood while dodging their attacks. It actually came quite naturally to me. I actually wanted for the Combat Forms to get close, but they were being shot before they reached me. I considered telling the turrets to cease fire, but decided against it. Instead, I calmly waited for one to get past them. One never did. "Men, rally on me!" I commanded over the radio. The Hunters were there first because the Marines had to retrieve the turrets.

"Excellent work just now. According to my clock, our evac should be arriving very soon. In the meantime, let's recover any gear we can that the Flood dropped." The Hunters returned to camp to inform the others of our coming departure while my ODST's and I remained to collect gear. I turned around to see Commander Keyes walking towards us.

"I have to say, Miranda, you have the worst damn luck when it comes to fights. You always seem to come when they're over," I shouted to her. "Or maybe you are afraid of a little combat."

"Ok, I guess I won't help you take gear back, then. See ya," she replied as she turned around.

"I'm just kidding. Sheesh, is it illegal to crack a joke? Now, what did you come out here for?"

"Johnson wanted for me to check if you guys were ok, since he's helping the rebels pack their equipment up. So, are you guys ok?"

"Yeah, we're fine. If you feel like it, you can look for something to replace that Plasma Rifle. It may work for you, but they've always seemed underpowered to me." I spotted a nearby shotgun. "See? I found you a new gun already."

"I don't really like shotguns because of their slow reloading, but I guess I can look for a new gun." She started looking through the pile we had made of weapons. "Have any of you seen a Battle Rifle around here?" she asked.

"I've seen one Battle Rifle, but I took the ammo from it. Sorry, ma'am," Davis replied as she was running over to us. "Hang on, I think I see one out there close to Henson. I've got plenty of ammo now, so you can have it." I walked over to it and picked it up to inspect it.

"It's got about five magazines with it, so that should be plenty of ammo. Why are you still standing there? Don't look at me like I was supposed to bring it to you. You can come get it." When she finally got to me I reloaded it and handed it to her. She took it and looked at it to ensure that it still worked. When she looked back up at me there was a horrified look on her face. "Sheesh, calm down. All I did was reload it." I noticed that she was looking beyond me, so I turned around. "Damn, that's a big ass group of Flood. Look alive, Marines! Contact in ten seconds!" I calmly slung my Energy Sword down to activate it, then I began to slowly walk towards the enemy.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Well, I finally have Broadband, so I should be updating this more often now. Sorry for the waiting everyone, I've just been lazy. R&R, I'd greatly appreciate it. Enjoy!

Chapter 8

I knew that even if I didn't live to see it through, the mission still had to be accomplished.

"Marines, fall back and warn everyone that a wave of Flood's coming. That's an order, so don't bother arguing. It's been an honor serving with you all. Over and out," I radioed. Before they had a chance to reply, I turned my radio off and charged without a second thought. "If I'm gonna die here," I said to myself, "it's gonna be on the offensive." I lunged at the first Combat Form I saw and hacked it to pieces. The next one was just as unfortunate. The third one had a shotgun, so I rolled under its line of fire just as it shot. I gave it an uppercut and took the shotgun.

I immediately did a 180 and fired, blowing a clean hole through a Combat Form's chest. I wasn't quick enough to dodge another's swing, which caught my left arm. I returned the scar with my sword, but I then noticed that I was bleeding. A sword-wielding Combat Form rushed me and slashed at me, but I blocked the blow. The two of us sat there in a stalemate until I drew my pistol and shot its face. I then quickly holstered my pistol and readied the other sword. The Flood had closed in around me, so I stuck both swords out and spun around, clearing a good eight feet in every direction. One charged directly at me, but a Battle Rifle burst caught it in the chest.

For a second I was staring, surprised, but then I jumped back as another Flood swung at me. After scissor-style cutting the jumper, I looked for the source of the burst and traced it to Commander Keyes. I stepped back slightly to avoid another swing that hit the ground in front of me. I lunged with both swords, leaving the two halves of an Elite Combat Form to fall to the ground. That crazy bitch is going to get herself killed, I thought as I slashed another Flood in half. I sprinted back to where she was, activating my radio as I went.

"Who the hell let Keyes come over here?" I yelled.

"Thank God, sir, you're not dead. She said that her rank let her ignore our mission, sir. Not even Johnson could stop her. Of course, due to your orders, we couldn't go get her," Nicholson replied.

"New mission objective: secure the package at all costs. Now move it!" I heard several enthusiastic confirmations that my order had been heard. "Quit cheering and come get her!" I finally got to her, but I had some Flood right behind me. Commander Keyes solved that problem with her rifle.

"Damn, that thing's a scalpel in the right hands. Now what the hell makes you think that you can come here even when I send my squad back?"

"Easy, sir. You ordered the Marines to go back. I'm Navy, so I was exempt from your order," she replied defiantly. I turned around and cut down a few Combat Forms.

"Of course a tight-assed Navy girl would want to exploit that kind of loophole."

"You want to say that to my face, Lieutenant?"

"I sure as hell do, but the last thing my retinas need is to be burned in the middle of combat," I retorted as I slashed another Combat Form into pieces. More Flood were coming than we could kill and there was no sign of my squad. I then spotted three Phantoms flying in our direction. After a few seconds they opened fire on the Flood, effectively slaughtering them. I turned around and saw my squad running towards us with Johnson at the front.

"Sorry we're late, sir. Did we miss… wow, sir. You may want to clean that off when you get the chance," Johnson noted. I looked at my suit and saw what he meant. I was covered in green blood except on the visor of my helmet. I turned back to the beat-down.

"No, Sergeant, you're just in time for the show." I deactivated my swords and sat down to enjoy the sight. Two Phantoms kept shooting while the third hovered near us, waiting for us to get in. "Good work, Marines. Yet another successful mission to add to our count." I led the group to the gravity lift and let them get on before I did. Once on board, Keyes informed the pilot of the location of the rest of our group as I laid down. We picked them and the rest of the gear up and flew back to the rebel cruisers.

"Sir, you want me to take a look at that?" Brenda asked. I gave her a confused look, but then I remembered that my left arm was bleeding. "Because that's one hell of an injury and it looks like you've lost quite a bit of blood."

"Go ahead," I replied as I sat down. She put some BioFoam on the wound and the bleeding stopped, but she was right. I had lost a good amount of blood and I was starting to feel a little lightheaded. After a few minutes I could barely stay conscious.

"Ok, sir, you've lost more blood than I thought, but we'll get you some more from the Concrescence. We'll be there in…" That was all I heard before I blacked out.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I slowly came to, not knowing where I was. I heard talking for a few seconds, but it stopped when my vitals sped up. A doctor walked up to me and started talking.

"Lieutenant Henson, can you hear me?" he asked. I nodded. "Good. You've been unconscious for a few days now, and you still haven't fully recovered, so don't try to move too much." I ignored that and sat up. It was painful, but I continued. "Okay, I didn't just say to take it easy, sir. Anyways, the bleeding has stopped, but you have a fractured arm, among other minor injuries in several locations."

"I don't care about my injuries, doc. Just tell me how long it'll be before I can suit up again," I said.

"According to Colonel Hegwood's orders, you won't be going on missions for a good while, even though your wounds should be healed before then."

"Get him, Keyes, and Johnson in here. I want to discuss the mission with them. Tell them it's important, too." I wanted to know every detail of what happened. "Tell him I won't talk unless those two are in here."

"Well, Colonel wanted to tell you something, anyways. I'll go get them now." Once he left I got out of that stupid apron and put my uniform back on, but I left my left gauntlet off. Soon after the four of them walked in. Colonel asked the doctor to wait outside.

"Before you start talking, there's something that I need to tell you, Lieutenant. This is very difficult for me to say, but while you were killing all those Flood, some of their blood entered the wound on your arm. We were able to remove some of it, but a good amount is still present in your system, and we have no idea what effects this'll have on you." We were all silent for a minute, letting that information sink in. What the hell will that shit do to me, I wondered.

"So, is there a chance that Henson could turn into a Combat Form?" Keyes asked. Dammit, I thought, she had to bring up that possibility. "I mean, will he mutate in any way?"

"I'm sure ONI would like to know the same thing. That is, if I inform them of Henson's situation. If I did, they would want to study him to see the stages of the transformation."

"Hell no, sir," I declared. "You can't send me to them. There's no telling what they'll do to me."

"If I do, many Marine lives could be saved if they were to find a way to prevent the transformation. It would benefit several human and even rebel lives. You have to see the benefits of this, Henson." I got pissed off when I heard Colonel say this and flew into an outrage.

"No, sir, you have to see the disadvantages," Keyes stated. "Lieutenant Henson saved all of us from a horrible death at the hands of the Flood, something probably no other commander could do. In my opinion, to have him removed from action would be a crime, sir. Either way, the Flood seem to infect dead hosts, so Lieutenant Henson does a fine job as it is preventing Marines from becoming Combat Forms." Just then the intercom came on:

"Sir, there are three Covenant cruisers en route to our location and we need the four of you on the bridge immediately to plan our defenses," it said.

"Understood, I'm on my way now," Colonel replied. "We'll continue this discussion later. In the meantime, we have some cruisers to kill."

"Hell yeah, I've been itching for more action. Johnson, give me a radio. No space battle is complete without a little boarding action."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The alarm was sounding, alerting everyone on the ship of our impending engagement. As we were walking I saw crewmen running through the halls trying to prepare the Concrescence for combat. Just then I heard a transmission on my personal radio from the rebels.

"Lieutenant, this is the Arbiter. Do you read me?" the Arbiter said.

"Loud and clear, Arbiter. Go ahead," I replied.

"Prepare your ship's MAC gun. We're about to take a carrier's shield out." I heard some alarms go off and several Grunts were screaming on his side of the radio.

"What's going on over there? Are you guys okay?"

"Our shields are taking a beating since we're focusing on charging our cannons. Just get your MAC gun ready and don't worry about us."

"Roger that, Arbiter." We then arrived to the bridge. "I need the MAC gun online ASAP, men."

"MAC gun online in five, sir," a crewman replied. He pushed some buttons at his station. "Okay, sir. MAC gun is ready to fire."

"Waiting for your signal, Arbiter." I radioed. I heard footsteps and turned around to meet my squad.

"Got a present for you, sir," Davis said. She then handed me my pistol and ammo.

"Thanks." I then put everything in its place on my suit. I looked up and saw Amanda smiling.

"That's not the present, sir. Brad, get up here." Cummins walked up, holding a rocket launcher and several rockets. "This is." A big grin came onto my face.

"It must be my birthday." I slung the launcher and ammo over my shoulder. "Get a boarding craft ready, cause we're jumping on the next cruiser." Two big plasma explosions hit the cruiser in front of us.

"Lieutenant, fire into that hole in the shield," Arbiter said. I walked over to the MAC gun controls and pointed on the screen at where the hole was.

"Fire right in there," I told the gunner. The ship rocked a little, telling us that the MAC gun had fired. "If I've studied Covenant cruisers enough, I'd say that shot's going to hit the reactor. If that's the case, everyone look away." Everyone covered their eyes completely or looked away from the window. I turned around and after a second I saw a bright blue light.

"It will take several minutes for our cannons to recharge."

"Not soon enough, Arbiter. That thing has cannons, too. We're boarding that cruiser and blowing it from the inside. You in?"

"Of course we are. Elites, prepare to board the cruiser. I'll alert you when we're ready."

"Arbiter, use what guns you can to hit the shields around the docking bays. Prep the MAC gun for another shot. We'll go on ahead, then. I need to kill something. Marines, move to the boarding craft. I'll be there in a second."

"Good idea. Concentrate fire on the docking bays." I then saw several shots hit the shield around the docking bays. "Fire where those shots hit." I then started sprinting to the hangar.

"Shield's down, Lieutenant. You have about thirty seconds until it closes up," Colonel radioed to me. I jumped in the ship and the door closed behind me. "Never mind, the rebels are still firing and keeping it open. You've got a few minutes now. Good luck."

"Sir, luck doesn't exist for the ODST's. We're just so good that it seems like we're real lucky. Full speed, pilot. Aw, dammit, Keyes. What are you doing on here?"

"Since we arrived on the Concrescence, your mission's over. Now I'm just another member of the UNSC, as is Johnson. We have a right to get on this bird," Miranda replied.

"Well I would have let Johnson come along because he knows how to fight the Covenant. Your ability to, however, is still in question."

"Sir, I believe that I've proven myself in combat, since I remember saving your ass from the Flood. Or do you not recall that moment?"

"The Flood and the Covenant are entirely different enemies. Do you know a Brute's weak spot? How about a Jackals'? No? I think I've proven my point."

"Like it matters, sir," Nicholson piped in. "We're on our way to that cruiser and she's with us, so looks like she'll get her chance."

"Fine. Just so you know, you'll want to shoot a Jackal in the little hole on the side of their shield that they shoot from. For Brutes, you need to shoot their helmet off and give them an old-fashioned headshot. If one goes into quarterback mode," I patted my rocket launcher, "just leave his furry ass to me."

"Landing in ten seconds, sir," the pilot said. Everyone turned their safeties off and readied their guns. "Five… four… three… two… one…" the ship shook violently as we landed in the docking bay. The doors opened just enough and I shot a rocket out the opening to clear our exit. And here comes the fun part, I thought.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

As we got out I went to the right, since it was standard boarding procedure to have the first person out engage the most dangerous threat.

"Backblast clear!" Brad yelled, to which I responded with a rocket. All that was left was a wounded Jackal, so I walked over to it and curb-stomped it.

"Johnson, you take… Ah, to hell with procedure. Let's all have some fun! Everybody just follow me," I ordered. I heard a chime that told me a door was fixing to open. "Watch this, guys." I rolled a frag grenade to the door, which had just opened. Four Jackals came out with their shields up, but unfortunately for them the grenade was now behind them. The explosion sent them all flying several feet. We rushed into the doorway to find more Covenant to kill.

"Hang on, sir. That sounded like a Brute up ahead," Davis warned. I heard some footsteps behind us and turned around.

"We didn't miss too much, did we?" the Arbiter said, brandishing his Energy Sword as he approached us from a side passage. Behind him were several Elites and Grunts.

"Not at all. The fun's just about to start," I replied. I pulled out a mirror to look around the corner and, sure enough, I saw a Brute in quarterback mode. I traded the mirror for my knife and whistled to get the fur ball's attention. It came running on all fours and right when it turned the corner I drove my knife into its eyeball. The blade was nine inches, so it hit the brain as well, causing the Brute to collapse. I pulled my knife out and noticed that the eye was still on it. I kept it hidden and called for Keyes.

"What is it, sir?" she asked. I showed her the eye on my knife and she almost puked.

"You hungry?" I asked with a smile, causing everyone to laugh.

"Sir, you have no idea how gross that is."

"I've seen way too much to think that an eyeball on a knife is 'gross'," I replied. As we were moving on I almost felt sorry for any Covenant that got in our was, since they'd get their asses handed to them. Almost. As we entered the next room we were greeted by some snipers who had plenty of cover.

"Okay, Miranda, what do you do when you're pinned down by a sniper who has cover?" I asked.

"You send a team to flank him, sir." I glared at her. "Oh, shit, we're indoors. Nevermind, then."

"Good job. Brad, how would you take care of this situation?"

"I'd 'nade his ass, sir!" Cummins replied. I nodded, and Brad chucked a frag grenade, which landed behind the snipers. A few seconds later, they were sent flying out by the explosion. Our team moved on, eager for a real engagement. I decided that to achieve this, we'd have to move to the bridge.

"Next course of action is a direct charge to the bridge!" Everyone agreed with me, so off to the bridge we went. As I predicted, the resistance grew as we went. We even encountered a barricade, but that was after we had commandeered three plasma cannons.

"Set those turrets up. Everyone else, provide suppression fire for them," I ordered. We had gathered several weapons from the stands that littered the halls, so our wall of fire was just plasma. We all were dual-wielding, so if they stuck their heads up for even half a second it would have been melted off. We started throwing grenades as well, so the barricade didn't work too well.

"Okay, pick up the turrets and gather as much weapons as you can," I said. By the time we moved on I was carrying the rocket launcher and rockets, my pistol and ammo, two Brute Plasma Rifles, and two regular Plasma rifles. Again, I almost felt sorry for any Covenant that got in my way.

Once we arrived at the bridge it seemed like they had moved their whole armory to it. They never stopped firing. We tried to get to a firing position, but they wouldn't let us get any closer.

"Sir, I spotted a big ass pile of Plasma grenades that you could shoot," Posada said. She led me to the corner and told me to look to the left. I pulled my mirror out and spotted it. "How big would that explosion be?"

"Probably blow a hole in the ship, but I'm not sure," I replied. Just then the door started closing. I pulled my SPNKr to the firing position, leaned around real quick and fired at the pile. I pulled back to avoid incoming fire and heard a very loud bang followed by lots of screaming.

"Henson, since they closed the door I'm assuming that they shut off the life support system for the rest of the ship. We have very little time to return to our ships," the Arbiter replied.

"You're right. I can already feel the air getting thinner. Marines, discard any extra weaponry and double-time it back to the ship." Several Plasma Rifles and Needlers hit the ground as we went. "Arbiter, have your men do the same." I didn't know how much time we had, so I was pretty worried. I didn't want to tell my squad that because then they'd worry, and that's not their job. It's mine.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, you guys who care enough to send them. For those of you who just read and move on, REVIEW! That's why it's called R&R! But if you really don't want to, that's cool, I guess. Chaptah Twelve!

Zeyann: Thanks, I plan to

Mentally Impaired: Yeah, I overlooked that part when I was thinking about it, but it's just a small error, isn't it?

Veno: Well, he is the group leader and he's proven himself in combat. Later on it'll explain how much he's gone through.

Crimson Thesis: Eh, Word Spellcheck didn't catch them, so obviously neither did I.

Chapter 12

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, we make a movie-worthy escape by running like hell. Now get the lead out and move!" I yelled. I was on point in case any stragglers didn't make it to the bridge and wanted to get killed. As I ran into a room I saw a Brute out of the corner of my eye. It raised its Brute Shot to shoot at me, but the Arbiter came in and slashed him. I thought he missed, but then I saw a red line of blood form across the side of the Brute's head. When the Brute hit the ground, the top half of its head fell off. It was then that my squad caught up to me.

"Oh, shit that's nasty," Davis said as she stared, mesmerized. We then continued running, but I stopped when I got a radio message.

"Sir, I have contact with the enemy. Requesting assist… Agh," the pilot said. I knew that if they had only wounded him he'd be dead in seconds. "I'm hit but I can still fight, just hurry up, sir."

"Acknowledged. Close the ship doors and wait for us," I replied as I began running again.

"I just did that, sir. Now if I can just get the med kit I should be ok. Ah, here it is. It hurts but I'm stable, sir. Those bastards are all yours now."

"Just the way I like it," Nicholson said. I turned around and glared at him. "Sorry, sir, but it's an open channel." As we got to the hangar doors I waited for a bit. I put my rocket launcher in my right hand and my pistol in my left and told Brad to come with me. I timed our entrance with an explosion to avoid detection. There were two Brutes and five Jackals assaulting our boarding ship. Brad snuck up to a Brute and said,

"Hey, bitch," and the Brute turned around to greet a shotgun barrel in its mouth. Cummins pumped the shotgun, putting a fresh shell in the chamber. "Eat this," he said as he fired. There was little left of the Brute's head, but the noise got the others' attention. I fired a rocket at the remaining Brute and shot a nearby Jackal in the head. Before the others could bring their shields up my team had mowed them down.

"The area's clear, pilot. You can open the doors now," I radioed. As soon as I said that the doors opened and my squad hopped on.

"Lieutenant, I am activating one of the ship's bombs so that our ships don't have to waste any more ammo," the Arbiter radioed.

"By bombs, do you mean the MAC busters?" I asked. "And did you say ONE of the bombs?"

"I see your Colonel didn't exaggerate your intelligence. Yes, that's what I said."

"Oh, very funny. We're fixing to leave, so go ahead. Over and out." I boarded the ship to be greeted by Brenda.

"Sir, I don't think the pilot's in good enough condition to fly the ship," she stated.

"I could have told you that. Let him rest, because he has to be in serious pain. I'll fly us out of here, so don't worry."

"Are you sure you know how to, sir?"

"I've gone from Private to Captain in fifteen years and I've done everything under the sun in the military, so I'm pretty sure that I can pilot this bucket of bolts. Everyone, strap in because I haven't flown sober in years." A moment of silence came over my squad. "Don't worry, I'm a good pilot." I began flying the ship and it was a smooth ride until the bottom of the ship scraped the exit hole. "Dammit, I knew I forgot something. Stupid landing gear." We had flown a few seconds when a big explosion went off behind us that rocked the ship a little. "That wasn't me. That was the cruiser blowing up. Sit back down." Once we docked with the Concrescence I landed the ship on the floor. "I need a medic to the hangar on the double." As I was walking out a mechanic came up to me.

"Sir, do you have any idea how much time it'll take to repair the landing gear?" He asked.

"I'm sorry, Marine. Is that bitching I hear?" I replied. He remained silent. "I didn't think so. It's your job to fix these things, so fix it." I heard Colonel call for me on my radio. "I'm here, sir. Go ahead."

"Good work on destroying the cruiser, Henson. As usual, the Concrescence took minimal damage. Get your squad to the briefing room after they've rested and eaten, and bring Johnson and Keyes as well. I feel that your squad deserves to know what I'm going to tell you since the five of you are inseparable. There's no rush, so take your time cleaning up."

"Will do, sir." I called my squad to attention. "Good work on the cruiser, Marines. As usual, you've performed to my expectations. It is currently…" I glanced at my watch," 1853 hours. At 2120 hours, report to the briefing room. What you do in between then is entirely up to you. One rule: if you don't do anything I wouldn't do, I'll take responsibility for your actions."

"So, basically, we can do anything short of attacking other Marines?" Davis asked. The squad broke out in laughter, as did I.

"That's right. You can spray Silly String all over the mess hall for all I care. I'm headed for the Firing Range. Dismissed." They ran off like kids in a candy shop, but I couldn't blame them. They had been to Hell and back in only a few hours.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – 1955 Hours

I had been at the range for an hour, simply firing Battle Rifle bursts at steel targets. Even with my sound-dampening headset I could still hear someone walking up to me, telling me that the Flood blood was gaining more ground in me. I put the safety on and turned around to greet Johnson.

"Simple minds are easily amused, huh?" he asked.

"I guess so, but mine is, too," I replied. "So, what has my squad been doing around the ship?"

"Oh, they're messing the place up. Nicholson and Davis are spraying the mess hall with Silly String like you suggested, and I think Posada and Cummins are running through the halls firing dummy rounds at each other. I've heard so many complaints over the radio, but no permanent damage has been done yet." I was cracking up.

"Oh my God," I laughed, "I didn't think they'd get that crazy. Give me your radio." I turned it on and started talking to my squad. "Listen up, Marines. That's enough havoc for one day. Now start getting ready for that meeting," I radioed.

"Yes, sir," they replied sadly. The radio clicked on and I heard Colonel call for me.

"Henson, where the hell are you? Over."

"I'm at the firing range, sir. What so you need? Over."

"About time you responded. I need you and Johnson in the briefing room right now. Your squad still comes at the time I told you earlier.

"Dammit. This isn't about the reports of small arms fire, is it?"

"What reports? There's been small arms fire?"

"No, sir, not at all," I quickly replied. "I'll be right there. Over and out." I turned the radio off. "Oh shit, this has to be important. Let's go." I slung my rifle over my shoulder and we made our way to the briefing room. I noticed that the Arbiter and a few other Elites were there as well. "Well, at least I'm not in trouble," I whispered to Johnson.

"Not yet, anyways," he whispered back. We sat down and Colonel started talking.

"Lieutenant, I have reported back to UNSC headquarters about our current status. No, your secret's safe, so don't worry about being dissected. ONI and the Arbiter had a meeting and have decided that we should know our ally's culture. Thus, you are to live in a Covenant rebel setting so that you can teach them our culture. You will be accompanied by Sergeant Johnson, Commander Keyes, and you can choose any other female Marine. In return, the rebels will send two Elites and two Grunts to live here on the Concrescence. We have agreed that this is the best way to fully learn each other's cultures."

"How long will we be living with them?" I asked.

"We haven't determined a preset amount of time so that you don't feel rushed or anything. You're free to take your time and learn about some of their customs first, if you wish. Any other questions?"

"Yes. Why have you chosen the three of us for this assignment?"

"The Arbiter requested you because of your brilliance in battle. I chose Johnson and Keyes because of their overall experience with several enemies."

"Well, Johnson I can understand, but I still think that Keyes is a little wet behind the ears." I saw a confused look on the Arbiter's face. "I don't think she's ready for this kind of thing." Arbiter nodded to show that he understood."

"Well, she's also proven to have a level of discretion that surpasses what you two have. Either way, she's going. So, have you chosen a Marine yet?"

"First Sergeant Davis. We're good friends and she's different enough from Keyes so that the rebels won't get the same girly-girl story twice. What can we take with us?"

"We have agreed that you can take anything but UNSC weapons and munitions. This is so you can become familiarized with their weaponry. You're also limited to what you can fit into a jumper pod."

"Good. I can take MRE's until I'm used to their food. So, anything but guns and ammo?"

"That's correct. Now go and get your equipment ready. Dismissed." We stood up, saluted, and left the room.

"Dude, this is bullshit. I was just getting used to the Concrescence, too. I wonder how Keyes and Davis will take this," I said as we walked back to my squad's room.

"Keyes already knows. She wasn't too happy about the idea of being stuck with you for an undetermined amount of time," Johnson replied.

"Trust me, the feeling's mutual. My squad will know something's up, so you want to be there when I tell 'em?"

"Sure. It's not like I have any shit to pack." When we got to the room my squad immediately knew something was wrong.

"Davis, pack all of your stuff. Leave your weapons on the Concrescence. No, not you, Brad, just Davis."

"Sir, what the hell's going on? Keyes came in muttering something about being stuck with you again, so what's up?" Davis asked.

"You'll learn later at the briefing room. Just start packing."

"We're not getting sent back to Earth, are we? No, they can't give me a desk job! Damn them!"

"It's not a desk job, but it is a big change from being a Helljumper. Before we leave, I want to tell you guys about how I decided to join the UNSC, since I've heard about why you all did." Everyone took a seat on their bunks while I moved to sit on mine. "It was about 18 years ago while I was still in high school. I still lived in one of the outer colonies, the ones that have had the bejesus bombed out of them by the Covenant. My dad had been a General in the Corps before he retired, so he had lots of old military weapons. We learned that a wave of Covenant was coming near our sector, so my family moved closer to a military base. I decided to still go to school where I had been going. The Covenant fleet was dangerously close, so I armed my friends with weapons, most of which I had made myself since I was a fan of early 21st century guns…"


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: This chapter's so long because it's a flashback of John's escape from his home planet, so bear with me. And sorry I haven't updated in forever... I blame WoW.

Chapter 14 – 0745 Hours – Year 2534

_That's the last one for today, I thought. Now it's time for school. "Guys, you can come down now," I yelled. My friends came down and I gave them each a weapon. "These are the guns I've been training you with. It's up to us to protect the other students. If I'm right, they'll underestimate us and send their weak groups. These guns may not be as good as the ones the Marines use, but they can still do serious damage." I had made assault rifles, snipers, machine guns and explosives out of scrap materials and my dad's old stuff. We all wore big jackets to hide our guns. I took an M16 and a Glock 18._

_Just as I expected, the Covenant attacked our private school. Also, just as I expected, they sent these short weak aliens to fight us. We caught them off guard and killed lots of them before they knew how great a threat we were. I was proud of my creations when I saw what they could do. Several students were killed before we attacked, but we saved many more. Once our battle was over, we began salvaging weapons from the Covenant. I found a radio and heard reports of bombings on the fort._

"_Men, get the civilians to safety. James, give me that sniper," I ordered. I took an M24 bolt-action rifle from him and ran to a building near the base. I saw more of the things we had killed at the school and some taller, more dangerous aliens with shields. I brought one of the little things into my sights and fired, piercing its little skull. The report got the attention of the others, so they started firing at my position. Luckily, their shots dissipated before they got to me. I kept picking them off until a squad of my soldiers got to me and made me retreat._

"_What the hell were you guys doing? I was picking them off easily until you guys got there," I yelled._

"_John, they were sending guys to flank you. We had to get you away before they killed you," Ethan replied. "We need you so we even have a chance of surviving." I heard my friend Karen running at me, so I turned to face her. She hugged me so tight I couldn't breathe._

"_Oh my God, John, thank goodness you're okay," she said. "Oh, I found this with your name on it." She handed me a note. I opened it and it was from my dad. It said:_

Dear John,

If you're reading this, then your mother and I have been killed by the Covenant. I want for you to save everyone you can and to get out of the area. Do not try to get revenge for our deaths, because we want for you to live as long as possible. Enclosed is a map to get to some vehicles I have hidden. Use them to get to our country home and stay there until the UNSC comes here. There are further instructions at the house. I have stocked up plenty of weapons and other supplies, so you should be able to survive. Use them how you want, but don't get revenge for our deaths. That's an order, soldier.

"_New orders, men. Gather our supplies and move to location Foxtrot Fife. We'll use the vehicles there to find a new base," I shouted. I heard several hoo-ah's, but Ethan stayed to ask me something._

"_John, you're not going to get revenge, are you? You have an order not to," he said. I was reloading my M24 as he said that._

"_He's retired and I'm not a soldier. You know how I'm a fan of the 21__st__ century, right?" I responded._

"_Yeah, that's where you got the ideas for these guns."_

"_You remember when we saw the movie _The Punisher_?"_

"_Yeah, that movie rocked, but I don't see how that matters."_

"_Well, this won't be revenge. It'll be punishment for all they've done and everyone they've killed. I won't go looking for them, but l feel sorry for the next poor Covenant bastard that gets in my way." I cocked the rifle and led my group to the warehouses that were Foxtrot Fife._

_We decided to take the long but stealthy route, which involved circling the entire city and going from building to building. Most people got tired, so we stopped to rest several times. While they rested I went through the buildings looking for possible weapons. As I was going up the stairs I spotted several marks of plasma shots on the walls. Good, I thought, this means I might find some weapons. I continued up and heard some noise that didn't sound human, so I drew my Glock and made sure it was loaded. I turned it to automatic and cautiously proceeded towards the noise._

_I put my back to the wall beside the doorway and pulled out a mirror. I looked around the corner and saw two aliens my size that had shields. They were looking the other way, so I put my gun away and crept up behind them. I grabbed a big shard of glass off of the ground and stabbed the first one in the back of its head while covering its mouth. The alien's gun hit the ground, alerting the other one. I tackled the other one, took its gun and shot it in the face. The plasma melted through the alien's skull and its body went limp._

"_Platoon, this is Henson. Come in, over," I whispered on the radio._

"_I read you, John. Go ahead," Ethan replied._

"_I've got two tangos down, unsure if more are present. Get the platoon ready for possible engagement."_

"_Roger that. Over and out." Now that the others were aware of the situation I felt better, but I was still worried. I then heard the aliens' radio come on and I heard a deep alien voice speaking that sounded like those shielded aliens. I couldn't understand what it was saying, but it tried to reach the two aliens again._

"_Oh shit," I muttered to myself. "Ethan, I've got multiple contacts in an unconfirmed location. Be prepared for an assault and take up defensive positions, but stay quiet. Over"_

"_Damn. You have no idea where they are?" Ethan replied._

"_No idea, but I think they might be on my level." The deep voice came on the radio, but it sounded angry this time. "I think they're coming for me, so hold your position. Maintain radio silence." I climbed onto a bookcase near the door and drew my Glock again. Remember, I thought, the key to victory is the element of surprise. The alien with the deep voice walked in, unaware of my presence. "Surprise!" I yelled. Before it had turned around I had taken its shield down and was aiming the shots at its head. It tried to raise its rifle but it was dead by then. I jumped down and pulled my M24 off of my back. I removed the safety and peeked into the hall._

_I saw some of those little fat aliens come out and decided they weren't worth a sniper shot. I put the rifle back and drew my pistol again. Setting it to single-shot, I started aiming for their heads and firing. All five of them died with the last five rounds in my clip, so I hit the release and put in a new one. Judging that the threat was gone I resumed my search for weapons. I started by putting the alien guns into my duffel bag, and then I saw a big red blood smear behind some tables with holes in them. I investigated to find a dead man, still hanging on to his MA5B. I saluted him and then relieved him of his rifle and ammo. There were three empty magazines and other dead aliens in the room, so I knew he had put up a fight. Slapping a fresh magazine into the rifle, I resumed searching for guns._

"_Henson, what's going on up there?" Ethan radioed._

"_Didn't I say maintain radio silence?" I asked._

"_Yeah, but when you say that it means you're getting into a firefight really soon. I assumed you were done and the others are worried about you." I had gotten all the guns on the last stories of the building, so I was on my way down again._

"_I'm fine, just had a little run-in with some aliens. I've found some more weapons, so have those who need one to get by the stairs."_

"_They're already there, dude. What all did you find?"_

"_An alien rifle, seven alien pistols, thirteen alien grenades, two alien shields and an alien shield system for me. I also found an MA5B, an M90 shotgun, ammo for each and two frags." I had activated the shield system and, surprisingly, it worked without the armor. It was very close to my skin so that I could still pick stuff up. It felt kind of cold, but it also felt relaxing. But that might have been due to the fact that I was now even with those tall sons of bitches._

_I pulled two alien grenades out and dropped the bag so those guys could sort it out themselves. I walked over to Ethan and started talking to him._

"_Have you chosen our route from here?" I asked._

"_Yeah. The town center's nearby, so I was thinking that we could raid it for food. It might be dangerous, but several people have been complaining about being hungry. They stopped when they listened to our last conversation, though," he replied. "Earlier it seemed like they followed you because you had guns, but now it seems like they actually believe you can get them out of this."_

"_Then let's not let them down. I didn't see any nearby aliens, but we should still be careful. Have everyone get ready to move out." He went and told everyone to get ready to leave. I made sure my guns were fully loaded, and then I looked outside to ensure the absence of aliens. It was all clear, so we slowly made our way to the town center. Once in we found several vending machines that still had food in them._

"_Listen up, everyone. Sort the food so that everyone gets the same amount, and everyone needs to eat something. If you don't eat it, take it with you. Don't leave any trash on the ground in case those damn aliens come here. You can talk some, but try to stay quiet," I ordered. I sent some lookouts to make sure that we were alone. Looking around I saw some people playing cards, some were checking their guns, and others just sat there quietly eating._

"_How far are we from the destination?" I asked Ethan._

"_We're about ten miles from it. I think everyone's too tired to go that far for today. Maybe we should stay the night here," he replied._

"_I don't know. If we make it there today, only a few people have to stay awake, which is what it would be like if we stayed here. They're tired, but after eating they should have enough energy to make it there."_

"_That's at least ten more hours of walking, and you have to remember that none of us are conditioned like you are. They need to rest, but they're willing to go if you tell them to." I looked at my watch and it read 19:16._

"_We'll rest here until midnight and then continue to the objective. Find volunteers or choose victims for first watch, it doesn't matter to me. I'm going to search the place some more." Hopefully I'll find a map of the building and maybe some more supplies, I thought. The main office was nearby, so I started there. I found only office supplies, but there was a map of the building on the wall. I took a picture of it with my PDA and took the map itself back to the group._

"_Set up an effective defense. I'm going to keep looking," I said as I set the map down. Ethan acknowledged and I returned to my search. I went to the security station, judging that it was the most likely place to find weapons. All I found was three riot batons, ten tear gas grenades, six smoke grenades and four riot shields. Heh, I thought, some retard took a baton but no shield. I put the stuff into a duffel bag and went to the supply room, searching the other rooms I passed._

_Once in I saw that I wasn't the first in here. Shelves were knocked over and open boxes were all over the ground. I obviously wasn't the first party to come in here. I spotted four MA5B's and four M90's laying near one crate. In the one beside it there was plenty of ammo for each. I don't see why the aliens don't take these, I thought as I packed them, because they kick their asses and that means they'd tear us up. Oh well, it's their loss. I finished searching the building and the only other things I found were two MA2B's on dead bodies._

_I went back to our camp to check on the status of our defenses. "You have a perimeter set?" I asked._

"_Yeah, eight people volunteered to be on the lookout and the nearby streets are clear. Everyone has a gun, so we don't really need those," Ethan said._

"_I'll have some people dual-wield. Anyone with a small weapon, come over here." Once the group was here I took some people's guns and gave them bigger rifles. Those who still had small guns got two. I stuck with my weapons. "Anyone who hasn't been given a job needs to get some sleep. We won't rest again until we're at the objective." I pulled my M24 out and went up to the highest point of the building so that I could spot hostiles and give the group plenty of warning._

_I'm going to be sitting here for four more hours, I thought. Instead of wasting those hours, I began to disassemble my weapons. It was then that I realized that I took the M24 from James, but I didn't give him the M16. Then I remembered that I gave him an MA5B not too long ago, so no harm done. I cleaned the M24 first so that it would be ready in case I spotted enemies. Then came the M16, which was relatively easy to clean since I had hardly used it. The Glock was much more dirty, but still mostly clean, since I had used a few magazines with it. Completely cleaning all three and my gear took about an hour, and there were no signs of aliens. I radioed in to check on the group._

"_Ethan, give me a sit rep. Over," I radioed._

"_This is Ethan. Almost everyone's asleep and the guards haven't seen a thing. Seeing everyone asleep kind of makes me forget about this war and think it's like a lock-in or something." he responded._

"_I wish we weren't in the war and that it was a lock-in. I hope it stays quiet down there, because I haven't seen a thing, either."_

"_Hey John. Can I ask you a question?"_

"_Didn't give me much choice, but I'm assuming you want to ask another. Go ahead."_

"_What happens after we get to the objective?" I had to think for a moment._

"_I really don't know. There should be more instructions when we get there, so let's just focus on getting there."_

"_You got it. You staying up the whole time?"_

"_Yeah, I have a bigger range of view than the others. Get some sleep, ok?"_

"_Okay, I guess I'll try. Good night." The radio clicked off. I started thinking, and it dawned on me that all they have left is each other and me. They're all counting on me to get them out of this because I'm the last one left for them to rally behind. I set my M24 down and got my M16 since its scope had night vision. I removed the magazine since I was recon only and I'd have time to reload if I had to shoot something. Just in case, I left the 40mm grenade in the M203 that was attached to the bottom of the rifle. I also put the silencer on, so that if I did need to shoot it wouldn't bother the others._

_Around 2218 a small party of aliens came into sight. I found it hard to believe that they still used flashlights, but they were extremely bright which led me to disengage my night vision. Stupid sons of bitches are giving their positions away by using those things, I thought. That or they're confident that we're not a threat. They shined it at all the nearby buildings to check for snipers. Luckily, they didn't shine it in my direction. They moved along after a few minutes, so I let out a sigh of relief._

_I checked my watch and it finally said 0000, so I went back downstairs to wake everyone up. While I was going down I radioed ahead to the group to wake up. There were still some asleep when I got there, so I gave them a "special" wake up, which consisted of quite a bit of pain on the receiving end. I had to cover their mouths to prevent possible detection._

"_Glad to see that you're all awake and feeling better," I said. "I take that back; glad to see you're all awake. We have a plan laid out to follow, so let's move out." We left the building quietly and cautiously, which proved difficult because some people were still half-asleep. That problem was solved by a quick melee to the head. As we were going our forward scouts came back panicking. I knew it was contact._

"_John, we've spotted a large group of entrenched aliens. It looks like a makeshift base and they have turrets all over the place," the first one said as I tried to calm him down._

"_That's not a problem. Ethan, calculate an alternate route. I don't want to fight them if I don't have to," I ordered. He pulled out a small copy of the map and began planning. "Let's head into this building for now." I pulled up the building plans for it on my PDA and sent small groups to the most effective defensive positions. "How long is it gonna take?"_

"_Ten, maybe twenty minutes. It was hard enough to plan this route, and I never thought they would set up here. It's just not a good spot to defend if the city were to be attacked from the outside. The only reason those bastards would choose this spot is if they knew we were coming," Ethan answered._

"_Dammit, they must have used those invisible ones. Sons of bitches snuck right past us and listened to your plan. Plot the quickest route through the city."_

"_Are you crazy? That's up Main Street. We'll be mowed down in seconds."_

"_Not with their firepower based here. It's the place they should have their weakest defenses at. How far is it from here?"_

"_About three minutes from here."_

"_Good. Men, rally at the entry point. We're moving out." I got some yes sir's back. "These things are really starting to piss me off!" Once they were down we moved out undetected. After a few minutes we got to Main Street, which had vehicles all over it. Some had keys in them, so we drove them down the street to the objective. Luckily, we encountered no resistance. We knocked the windows out so that we could shoot if we needed to._

_Every now and then I had the cars stop so that I could look ahead. It was a good thing I did that, because I saw an alien roadblock. It wasn't too heavily fortified, so I considered taking it out. I went back to the group and formulated a battle plan._

"_Everyone with silencers, scopes and night vision, come over here. You three, go to the roof of that building. You three, go up top of that one. The three of us will go up this one," I ordered. Once we were all on top of our buildings we acquired targets. There were only four little ones and a big one, so four people shot them and the other five of us concentrated our fire on the big one. They didn't have time to call for help before they died, so we moved up to the roadblock quietly. We go their weapons and moved on. Right before we left, I heard an alien radio click on. Shit, I thought, they'll know something's wrong. "Move out now! Get to the objective as soon as possible!" I yelled. Everyone ran to their cars and drove off. Oh damn, I thought, I'm not in any of those cars._

_I ducked into the nearest building and tried to radio the group, only to realize that Ethan had my radio. Armed with my M24, M16, Glock 18 and a Plasma Rifle, I began wondering if I would make it out of this alive. This sucks ass, I thought, because fortune is supposed to favor the bold. Time to see if I'm bold enough to gain Lady Fortune's favor._

_I readied my M16 in case I was spotted because it was the most effective weapon I had at this range. I was breathing heavily and my pulse was racing. I looked over the counter I was hiding behind with my mirror and saw one of the shielded aliens, only he was wearing golden armor. He must be strong, I thought, and his shield must be, too. I was in a shadow, so it couldn't see me in or the mirror. It started walking into the building that I was hiding in._

_I began to raise my rifle and moved to turn the safety off. Hold your fire, I thought, because he might not know you're here and if you shoot they'll all know you're here. I moved my finger away from the trigger and tried to relax. After what seemed like hours, it walked away. I closed my eyes in relief. I looked over the counter again and saw that they were still out there, but the gold alien was gone. I moved to the back door and got out of the building. As I quietly closed the door behind me I heard a very high-pitched energy sound. I turned around to be greeted my Mr. Goldy and his energy sword._

"_So, you are the human that has been causing so much trouble," it said in perfect English. "Surprised? Any good hunter studies its prey in order to more efficiently kill it. I must commend you for being able to kill an Elite, but the blue ones are the weakest and have been killed by your pathetic race before. Now, it is your turn to die. Any last words?" I chuckled a little._

"_Not yet," I replied. I dropped my rifle and drew my Glock quickly, but before I could fire I rolled under it to avoid its sword._

"_You are quick, human, but not quick enough," it said. As it was turning around I fired five rounds at it before it jumped to the side. I charged at it while still firing and it did an overhand chop, which I easily dodged._

"_I could say the same about you," I replied. It slashed at me again and I did a back-flip to dodge its swing. Once I was on my feet again I noticed that my gun was significantly smaller. The alien smiled as it charged at me again. I picked the M16 up by the magazine and fired the M203 at the alien, which made direct contact. I heard some beeping which meant that its shield was gone. I used the round in the Glock's chamber to shoot his shielding device, effectively disabling it. The alien stared at me with amazement and fell to what I think was its knees._

"_How was I… defeated… by a… a human? This… this is impossible… absolutely impossible…" it muttered to itself. I walked up to it with my M16 barrel at its head. "Go ahead, human. I deserve to die since I was unable to defeat a human. May the Prophets have mercy on my soul." I moved my finger to pull the trigger, but I shot so that it would only graze its head. The alien yelled in pain._

"_Living will be worse for you. My name's John Henson. Remember me as the one who gave you that scar." I hit it in the head and knocked it out to keep it from killing itself. As I left I dropped my pistol and magazines and picked up the sword. "Now you know that humans are not to be underestimated," I said as I walked away._

_As I was walking I reloaded my rifles and the M203. I pulled up a map of the city and plotted a path for the objective. It was mostly through confined buildings, but I chose some public centers for when I needed food. I carried a canteen with me, so water wasn't an issue. I began to question whether I should have killed that alien when I had the chance._

"_That thing now has the chance to kill more people since I let it live. No, letting it live will let that alien tell the others what they're dealing with. This war should get more exciting, but the others might not be able to handle it. Anyways, they should be at the objective by now, since it's 0047," I said to myself. I was moving at a much faster pace than I had with the group, which meant that I was getting closer to freedom faster. It was 0328 when I got to my first re-supply point, which was the local supermarket. While I was there I found plenty of food, water, a new radio, a 12 gauge automatic shotgun, and plenty of shotgun shells. I ate lots of energy bars and ice cream, and drank lots of energy drinks. I also filled my canteen and loaded the shotgun. Once my watch hit 0354 I moved on._

_Having the biggest sugar rush ever, I was sprinting for about an hour before I even considered slowing down. I changed my route so that I'd be staying in the forests near town, so I was confident they wouldn't find me. I spotted something ahead, so I stopped and began moving slowly. I discovered some hunters who had been killed by plasma weapons. Their equipment was still there, so I packed some of their food onto one of their ATV's and rode on that. I hadn't noticed how much I had been sweating, so the air in my face felt so good. It was about two hours before I got some company._

_I turned around and saw that two alien hovercrafts were following me from a distance. I sped up to lose them, but they could keep up. Why aren't they shooting at me, I wondered. They could easily kill me that way, but they must want me alive or something. I figured it would be a bad idea to ask them, so I grabbed my M24 and shot one in the head. Its hovercraft halted almost immediately while the body went flying. The other one sped up and rammed my ATV. It pulled up beside me and was trying to grab on so that it could jump on. I kept hitting its hand with my M24 since I didn't have time to switch weapons. It pulled its plasma rifle out and was about to fire but I hit the gun down and caused the shot to connect with my back right tire. The ATV spun out of control as I jumped off and hit the ground at forty miles per hour._

_As I was laying there trying to get up I heard the hovercraft stop and turn around. I switched my shield on and pulled out my shotgun. The alien shot at my arm, but my shield deflected the blast. It was about fifteen feet away, so I returned fire. The buckshot connected, but didn't do enough damage to take the shield off. I fired another shell, which happened to be a slug. The slug had more power than buckshot, so the alien's shield was gone and the impact momentarily stunned it. I kept firing shells until the alien fell to the ground as a bloody heap._

_I slowly got up and took a few minutes to recover from the crash. Inspecting the ATV I decided that I couldn't repair it, so I considered learning how to use the hovercraft. After a few minutes of experimenting I decided its controls were like those of a jet since it had two joysticks. Once I gathered my gear, which was luckily undamaged, I got on the hovercraft and continued to my objective. I checked myself and found several cuts and that my left arm was fractured. I decided to stop by the hospital to pick up some bandages and BioFoam. Once there I saw that it appeared to have been abandoned early on._

_I moved to the storage rooms and found lots of BioFoam. I looked down and saw a little alien that had some in a cut. I looked closer and saw that the BioFoam appeared to have poisoned it. Note to self, I thought, use BioFoam against wounded aliens. After patching up my wounds, I gathered a few canisters and checked my watch. It read 0645, so I rested for an hour and reloaded my guns. I reconsidered resting when I spotted a Chemicals Lab on the map. I went there and found one of my favorite ones: white phosphorous. I fashioned a white phosphorous M203 grenade and loaded it. That took about twenty minutes, so I made a Molotov Cocktail out of some gasoline and a glass bottle I found._

_I still had time to eat, so I drank some water and ate a few energy bars. They didn't taste too good, but I needed the energy since I hadn't slept in twenty-three hours. This better not be my last meal, I thought, because I want to eat some real food before I die._

"_I sure hope the others have gotten there by now," I said. "They should be having an easier time than I am." My arm had mostly healed by then, so I got back on the hovercraft and kept going. I learned that the hovercraft could boost and render its weapons temporarily useless, so I boosted down the small country road that led to our home out in the middle of nowhere. I preferred it out here because there were little signs of war and it gave me a calm feeling. Our house was in the middle of nowhere, so it took me about an hour to get there. I didn't see any other cars there besides the ones we owned, so I began to worry. Just then a bunch of people jumped out of the bushes wearing camouflage._

"_Dude, where have you been?" Ethan said as he walked up to me. Everyone else was cheering because their leader had returned to them._

"_I've been killing some aliens, man. Why did you guys leave me? Hey, is that my ghillie suit you're wearing?" I asked._

"_Yeah, I looked around for defensive equipment and found it. These are why you couldn't see us. You made them pretty well. And we didn't mean to leave you, but we figured you'd tell us to keep going anyways."_

"_Well, yeah I would have said that. I see you've looked pretty well for my stuff." I looked around and saw foxholes, turrets, anti-tank rockets, and many more defensive weapons I had made or stockpiled over the years. "All those years of doing PT for my dad and building everything I did really paid off, huh? None of you would have made it through what I've been through, no offense. Let's go inside. Everyone, back to your positions." Ethan and I walked inside. I started looking around and found a cross-galactic communicator in my personal armory, which is where I kept the really good stuff. I was the only one who had access as well._

"_How'd you get them all trained this well in such a short amount of time?" I inquired._

"_We found a training program in your room, so I had everyone take turns using it," he responded. "They complained about headaches, but it's a pretty good program." I set the communicator up and used my dad's access code to get into UNSC communications. I started calling out for the nearest ship to my planet's sector._

"_Ethan, go get everyone better weapons and more ammo while I'm up here," I ordered. Suddenly I got a reply on the communicator._

"_This is Major Evans of the UNSC. Identify yourself. Over," a reply said._

"_I am John Henson, the son of retired General Henson. I am requesting immediate extraction from Sector 7 Bravo. Over."_

"_Sector 7 Bravo? Hell no, kid. That area's crawling with Covenant. I can't go there without authorization, nor would I want to. Over."_

"_Covenant? That what those ugly things we've been killing are called? They're not too hard to kill, plus the planet's defenses haven't given out yet. There's still a way to extract me and my men. Over."_

"_You're in command of a military unit? What unit are you?"_

"_It's not really a military unit. It's more along the lines of indigenous forces and militia. It's still a pretty effective unit, though. Over."_

"_If you've killed Covenant with them, I guess I'll ask for authorization. Hang on a second. Over." We waited a few minutes before the Major got back to us. "You're in luck, kid. I've been given the green light to extract you. What's your location?"_

"_We're in Planetary Grid Kilo Echo Foxtrot Fife Six Fower Niner. I have at least fifty militia garrisoned with me, all of which are heavily armed but willing to dump it. Over."_

"_Roger that. We'll be there in about thirty minutes. Over and out." I grabbed my radio and turned it on._

"_Listen up, everyone. I just made contact with the UNSC and our ride off this rock will be here in half an hour. Stay alert, and we all get out alive. Stay quiet so the Covenant doesn't know we're here." I went down to my armory and looked for a new outfit. My school clothes were pretty worn out. I found an ODST suit that I had made based on pictures and donned it. While I was changing I saw all the scars and bruises that I had acquired during the day. It was also then that all the pain from them came to me. I tried to ignore it as I put my ammo in its place on the suit, but it was too much to just shrug off. Every now and then another troop would come in and exchange his or her weapon for a better one, so I had to maintain the illusion that I was invincible, because to them I was._

_Once I was done I chose a new sidearm. My choice was a Desert Eagle with .44 magnum rounds. .50-cals would be too much with all I had. I checked the map I had of the building and found that the defenses were nearly flawless. Anti-tank positions, machine gun nests- they were all in ideal spots. "Good work on the defenses, Ethan," I radioed._

"_I learned from the best, John. It was just a matter of putting the pieces together."_

"_Here's to hoping these thirty minutes just fly by."_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Lieutenant Henson," the intercom said, "you have three hours before departure." I got up and pulled out my weapons to pack.

"Wait, sir," Brad said. "Aren't you going to finish your story?"

"I'll make this part quick. We got everyone re-geared for defense before the Covies arrived, but they came in overwhelming numbers. It looked like every troop they had in the region was coming for us, but we had them bottlenecked in a mountain pass. Claymores and anti-tank mines tore their first wave to shreds in there, and we had snipers picking them off as they approached the house. I remember standing on the roof of my house, watching as they moved closer and closer. I saw them come in Banshees, too, but my anti-aircraft crews took out the small waves of them. Everything was going fine, but we weren't stopping them, only slowing them down.

"Every time they made it past one of our long-range defenses, we had another set waiting for them, so we killed a good number of troops and vehicles before they made it anywhere near the house itself. It's when they got in range of the rockets when the shit really hit the fan. I didn't know how they did it, but my fellow students were holding back the universe's most powerful military force. As soon as I could see them, I opened fire on the little bastards from the rooftop. Four Hunters came out front, so I waved for the guys waiting on the other side of the roof to come up. As I waved, though, a sniper shot hit me dead in the right shoulder, but it didn't hit any bone. I think it was the prototype for the Beam Rifle, because the shot was pencil-thin. I ducked behind cover and remotely fired artillery shells at the Covenant instead of coming back out of cover. They got so close I was firing shells literally right in front of my own men.

"Once they took our first foxholes, everything went downhill from there. I told everyone to slowly retreat inside the house and fight from there while I covered them with my M16 and M203, which was pretty hard with a beat-up shoulder. I took another shot in the left calf from someone, so that leg buckled under me as I kept shooting. Eventually I had to fall back to the other side of the roof, so I fired as I dragged myself over. Once safe I resumed using artillery fire until a miracle happened: Major Evans' ship had flown extremely low and fired its MAC gun at the incoming Covenant, so those near us were trapped between the shell's crater and my men, buying us a small window to board the five Pelicans sent to get us.

"I fast-roped to the ground as we all rushed to the evac, but I remember Ethan and another guy grabbed me and ran me to one. We took off quickly and had Longsword escorts, but a huge fleet of Banshees attacked and started taking out the Pelicans. Mine was hit on the floor, so I watched as Ethan and my friends were burned by the plasma or fell out of the Pelican. I then got in the cockpit with the pilot and co-pilot when I heard that we were the only surviving Pelican, but we had plenty of Longswords around. Those Banshees had focused on the Pelicans, so the Longswords destroyed them quickly. Two medics took me to the infirmary while I heard that the Covenant cruiser was glassing the planet, red-lining its weapons. It was so focused that we got to destroy it, but the damage had been done. New Lexington was finished.

"I came to Earth with the UNSC and finished high school while training to enlist. Being so good at killing, to be blunt, I got promoted like crazy. Once I hit Sergeant Major they made me an officer, too. I had made it up to Major, but on one mission I 'lost control' of the situation and almost got my battalion killed. We were lucky to survive at all due to the huge amount of troops the Covenant sent, but I still got demoted to 1st Lieutenant and the rest of that time has been here with you guys. There, happy?" I explained.

"You going to keep in touch while you're with the rebels?" Nicholson asked.

"I'll try to. Well, as soon as I learn how to use their stuff, since we're not allowed to take any issued equipment except uniforms with us."

"Yeah, that totally sucks. I wanted to take my rifle with me, but no, they won't let me. Bastards," Davis piped in. "Speaking of which, what are you doing with those guns, sir?"

"They weren't issued to me. I can take them wherever the hell I want," I answered.

"Can I have your sniper rifle since I can't take mine?"

"You can't have it, but you can use it whenever you want. Ammo's not too much of a pain to make."

"So, what other guns do you have? And are they really better than what the Corps uses now?" Posada asked.

"I have my M16, M24, Desert Eagle, and energy shield and sword from the attack, and since then I've made the M249 and M60, which are light machine guns. I have a Colt .45 and another Glock 18, which are pistols. Lastly, I have a SPAS-12 pump-action 12 gauge shotgun. Then there's the ammo to carry for all of them, so they get extremely heavy."

"Holy shit, sir. Are you planning on equipping a squad with all that, or you taking it all into combat yourself?" Davis questioned with a laugh. I had a hard time packing it all in as little space as possible, but I knew no one on the Concrescence would ask what I had. Once I finally finished I had a half hour left, so I went to get some very late dinner. We were having bean burritos, so I felt sorry for the people on my transport. After dinner I took my stuff to the hangar and put it near the transport. Then I went back to the room for a last visit.

"Well, Marines, it's been an honor serving with you. I've seen you through many missions, and you've seen me through my borderline insanity, and for that I commend you." I got some laughs from that. "But seriously, we've taken many round trips to hell and I'm just thankful that we've never left a man behind. You're getting a new leader now, so the best of luck to you. Don't make him or her hate you too much, okay?" Several Hoo-ah's followed.

"Lieutenant Henson and First Sergeant Davis, report to the armory with your equipment to return immediately," the intercom chimed. We got up and grabbed our gear.

"Looks like it's time to go, so I'll see you guys later. Come on, First Sergeant," I said. We walked down the hall in our formal uniforms, which looked as neat as possible. They were second only to the uniform of Colonel himself. While we were turning in our stuff Colonel asked us to turn in our rank. We obediently turned in our rank, but I wondered what for. I turned around to see someone holding a video camera, which was apparently broadcasting to everyone in the mess hall.

"First Lieutenant Henson, for your loyal service to the UNSC, I am promoting you to the rank of Captain," Colonel said. I took my two silver bars and put them where the one had been. "First Sergeant Davis, for your loyal service to the UNSC, I am promoting you to the rank of Sergeant Major." I watched as she proudly put the rank on her uniform. There was much applause from the spectators all around us as we walked out of and to our transport. As I was closing the door, I remembered all the good times that I had on the Concrescence and wondered about how things would go from here.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Nothing too spectacular's going on in my life right now, so I should be able to update at least once a week from now on. Until I have to write new chapters, anyways, but that's a long way down the road. R&R and enjoy!

Chapter 16 – 0048 Hours

I soon found myself cracking up while we were flying, which appeared to be worrying everyone. Finally, Davis asked,

"Sir, what the hell's so funny?" I tried to answer, but I had to wait and get my breath back. I finally stopped laughing for a few moments.

"Safety," I replied, still laughing. A disgusted look came over her face.

"You bastard," Davis said as she covered her nose. Miranda looked confused, but Johnson shook his head and muttered something to himself.

"What's going on? Why are you… ugh, that stinks," Keyes said as she covered her nose. I was laughing even harder because it took her so long to catch on. "Pilot, release the emergency breathers. It smells like shit back here."

"No can do, ma'am. They're emergency use only," the pilot replied. "It's not life-threatening, don't worry. Plus, we're almost there."

"If we're almost there, then hurry up," Keyes yelled back.

""Just calm down, Keyes," I commented as she held her nostrils shut. "You act like you're gonna die." She sat back down quietly and crossed her arms, almost as if she was pouting. "So, are we teaching them about our culture, or are they teaching us?"

"We're teaching them about our culture."

"Then why didn't we bring our equipment? We could show them how to use it or even improve ours with their technology. Yet again, ONI displays their planning prowess." Davis and Johnson laughed and Keyes smiled a little.

"Good news, ma'am. We're finally here and we'll be docked in five," the pilot stated. Seconds later the door was opening and we walked out into the hangar of the rebel ship. Many nearby Elites shot us looks of hatred, so I gave them the bird. I then realized that I'd have to teach them what it meant.

"It's good to see you again, Lieutenant," the Arbiter said as he appeared from seemingly nowhere.

"It's Captain now, Arbiter," I kindly corrected.

"Congratulations. Follow me to your quarters. I have studied some human history, so I hope that they will help you feel at home." I picked up my gear, which for some reason seemed noticeably lighter. I quickly made sure that I had everything, and then I walked on without giving it a second thought. Through the halls many Elites still glared at us, so I just ignored them. Davis, however, could barely tolerate it.

"I swear I'm gonna cut their eyes or whatever the hell they see with out if they don't quit staring at me," she whispered to me. I turned to whisper something back, but before I could say anything I had run into an Elite who was sporting white armor and a big ass helmet. After it took a step back to regain balance, I looked up at its face as it began speaking.

"Watch your step, scum. I'm sure your inferior race has some kind of rank system, so consider me your social superior," it sneered. I spotted what looked like where a bullet had grazed its head, so I cracked a smile. "What is so funny, weakling?"

"How'd it feel to get schooled by a human child so long ago?" I could see the anger rising in the Elite's eyes. "Yeah, I remember beating you, so you better remember who you're dealing with," I retorted as I stared it down.

"You! Now is my chance to get my revenge! Prepare to die!" The Elite drew its energy sword out and slashed at me. Before the hit connected, I had pulled out the one I took from it on my homeworld and blocked the swing.

"Wow, you're still a horrible fighter," I taunted. It did the famous Elite Roar of Fury, as Marines had dubbed it, and charged at me again as I quickly dropped my gear and prepared to counterattack.

"Enough!" the Arbiter yelled. We both paused and looked at him. "You are not here to settle your petty rivalry. Lieutenant… Captain Henson is here to educate us on the culture of our newfound allies. You will not attack him or threaten him in any way. Is that clear?" The Elite nodded. "And the same goes for you, Captain. Do not incite or taunt my warriors. For if you do, I cannot guarantee your safety. We will continue to your rooms now." The Arbiter started walking again, so the four of us followed. I turned back and stuck my tongue out at the Elite quickly as I picked up all my baggage.

Once in our quarters, we noticed that it was only one room. There were no screens, sliding doors, or anything of that nature. There were some shelves and racks to store our belongings, four beds, two shower heads, one toilet, one sink, and a small workstation. Most of it was or resembled human technology. We would for the most part feel at home, but then there was the issue of privacy.

"Hey, uh, Arbiter? Where exactly did you get the design for this room from?" I asked.

"We got the shelves from your armories, beds from your 'barracks,' and the bathroom from your 'locker rooms.' I tried to include space for four people to live comfortably. Is there anything wrong with it?" the Arbiter replied.

"Not at all. You did a good job on the design. When do we begin teaching your men?"

"In your time, it is 0053. At 0730, someone will be here to lead you to breakfast. Make yourselves comfortable and get some sleep. You have a long day ahead of you." With that he walked out. I took my weapons out of their bags and put them on the shelves. They took up most of the room, but everyone else didn't have much stuff.

"How the hell did you carry all that? That must be well over a few hundred pounds," Miranda asked.

"I would say that the Marines are just stronger than the Navy, but it was much easier than I expected. Maybe I should have gotten a last-minute medical inspection to see if it was the Flood virus or whatever it's called. I may be resisting the transformation, but it's probably causing side effects. I'm taking a shower now, so either look away or leave." Davis and Keyes left the room immediately.

"I've heard that you have tons of scars from your years of combat. What's the exact count?" Johnson asked.

"Bullets, bruises, Covie weapons, cuts, or total?"

"Total."

"Eighty-four. I remember how I got each one, too."

"Eighty-four? How the hell are you still alive?"

"I was born with an incredibly strong constitution, so the wounds didn't bother me as much as they would anyone else and they healed faster, too. I've been hit by bullets, Needler shots, Covie sniper shots, exploding plasma grenades, shrapnel from explosions, energy swords, and once by a Brute Shot blade."

"I repeat, how the hell are you still alive? Well, it sounds like you've earned your rank."

"Amen to that. Say, you were on Delta Halo. Do you know how the whole Rebel-Human alliance happened? It just seems kinda odd that the rebels would just leave the Covenant."

"From what I heard, the Covenant betrayed them. Now they're just looking for revenge. As to the alliance, they must have gone with the old saying 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'" I started to laugh a little. "What's so funny?"

"That saying shouldn't go like that. It should be 'The enemy of my enemy is my ally,' because we sure as hell aren't friends with the rebels. Well, I'm going to sleep now. Do you mind finding Davis and Keyes?"

"I'm not too tired, so yeah I'll do it. See you later." Johnson walked out of the room as I went to sleep.

At 0600 I woke up, wondering what we would do today. Looking around, I saw that everyone else was asleep. Instead of putting my formal uniform on, I pulled out a set of my woodland camouflage BDU's. I'm in command, I thought, and I don't feel like wearing my uniform. Once I had cleaned and donned it, I then put on my combat gear and energy shield. I looked at my watch, read 0637, and decided to wake everyone up. Just as I began an alarm-sounding noise took over from what I think was the intercom. Everyone jumped out of bed and started to get ready.

"What's the big idea, John?" Miranda shouted over the noise. "A simple 'get up' would have worked just fine."

"It's not me, it's the intercom. I don't know how to shut it off," I yelled back. I heard some alien speech over the intercom, but I couldn't make it out. I ran out the door and grabbed the nearest Grunt. "What did the intercom just say?" The Grunt frantically said back,

"The Prophet is sending ships to attack us! We're all going to die! We're all going…" I smacked it to shut it up.

"Get a hold of yourself! How big is the fleet?" The Grunt kept panicking, so I hit it again. "I said, how big is the fleet?"

"Many ships, but we have more coming, too." A nearby Elite in red armor said as it came up to me. "I have been instructed to take you and your friends to the bridge. Follow me," it ordered with a deep voice.

"We need a few more minutes to get ready," I replied. I let the Grunt go and ran back into the room. "You've got three minutes until we move out, Marines." I loaded my combat vest with M16 magazines, M203's, my Colt .45, and pistol ammo. Everyone else just put clothes on and ran out into the hall. "Lead the way, warrior," I said to the Elite.

"Hell yeah! I've been itching to kill something ever since we got off of Delta Halo," Davis said, wielding my M24 sniper rifle.


End file.
